A fast update: Sovereignty came in first, Journalism took second place, and Baeza came in third. Congratulations to all the horses, trainers, and jockeys.
Today in Estes Park, it is the 36th anniversary of the Estes Park Rotary’s duck race.
It is also the 151st running of the Kentucky Derby. The Estes Valley Voice is betting on the horse named Journalism.
And it is World Press Freedom Day.
The Estes Valley Voice is proud to be a locally-owned, journalist-led news publication. We are 10 months old, and we have published 550 original news articles since our publishing platform launched at the end of June last year.
We have a group of amazing journalists working on stories with a hyperlocal focus. No one is going to come up the hill and cultivate relationships with neighbors, businesses, and local government representatives in order to report on local news the way we can as locals.
There are many news outlets readers can turn to for statewide and national coverage of issues outside the Estes Valley, and while we cannot be isolationists, we need to respect our bandwidth to cover any news story well. We start with a local lens first and we incorporate a longer lens when the news is applicable to the Estes Valley community.
Journalism is sometimes referred to as “the fourth estate,” a term attributed to Edmund Burke in reference to the capacity of the media to not just report the news but to influence politics and public policy. European social hierarchy was traditionally divided into the three estates of the realm – the clergy, nobility, and commoners.
Transformations are happening in the media today on many levels. AI will have a profound impact on the media from the way news is gathered, the way stories are edited, and the way the news is distributed.
Many news institutions are struggling to survive. Print publications are finding it harder and harder to turn out a good news product with the rising costs of ink and paper. Over the past 20 years, 3,200 weekly publications shut down or merged with other publications.
Some corporate hedge funds have gobbled up local and legacy publications, turning them into ghosts of what they once were or shuttering them completely and creating news deserts.
Revenue models – subscriptions and advertising – are changing as readers seek to maximize the dollars they spend on news consumption and as businesses seek to get their brand and their message in the public eye.
The American founders knew that an independent, unencumbered press was an essential part of a free nation, so they enshrined protection of the press in the Constitution. Information needs to flow freely, and accurately, so people can be informed about their government and their community.
The Estes Valley Voice is committed to local news for the Estes Valley. Our tag line is “news connected to our community.” We believe in reporting the news fairly and with accountability to our readers. We believe in owning our biases. We believe that the media has a role in reporting the news and in being a platform for conversation about the news.
Thank you for being a reader of the Estes Valley Voice. None of our news is behind a paywall because the news should be accessible to everyone. If you support the idea that journalism is a public good and that our community needs boots-on-the-ground local journalism, please become a subscriber.
If you are a business, please consider becoming an advertiser or even a sponsor as a way to support the work of the Estes Valley Voice.
We are incorporated as a public benefit corporation, which according to Colorado law is a for-profit company “intended to produce a public benefit or public benefits and to operate in a responsible and sustainable manner.”
The Estes Valley Voice tells stories about the people and businesses in the Estes Valley, and we are a watchdog to report on the local government organizations in an effort to both inform the public and hold them accountable to do the public’s business openly and transparently.
We believe passionately in civic engagement. Civic engagement and the tensions that necessarily happen in disagreements are an essential part of the democratic process in our republic. Public policy is everyone’s business. Politics, advocacy, and free speech are all ingredients in the messy but necessary process of civic life.
And the media is an integral part of that conversation.
Please get out to vote on Tuesday, May 6 in three special district elections – the Estes Valley Fire District and Estes Valley Recreation District elections are in person elections that will be held at the Community Center, 660 Community Dr., from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The Park Hospital District Election is a ballot election. Voters should have received a ballot in the mail, and they can return it by 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 6 to the ballot box in the front lobby of Estes Park Health, 555 Prospect Ave.
If you do not vote, the saying “if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem” applies to you.
And go Journalism, go! We are rooting for you.